Print support apparatus, printing system and print support program

Abstract

Disclosed is a print support apparatus that makes it possible even for a client, who has no document creation / editing application program and no printer driver, to implement a printing operation easily and safely by employing the SaaS. The print support apparatus, which is to be installed in a user's inhouse network being connectable to the Internet, includes: a detecting section to detect a printer coupled to the user's inhouse network; a notifying section to notify a print service server of information for specifying the printer above-detected; an acquiring section that accesses a predetermined storing destination site, in which print data created from document data by the print service server by executing a printer driver corresponding to the printer above-detected, is stored, so as to acquire the print data from the predetermined storing destination site concerned; and a data transferring section to transfer the print data to the printer above-detected.

Description

[0001]This application is based on Japanese Patent Application NO. 2011-005067 filed on Jan. 13, 2011, with Japan Patent Office, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a print support apparatus, a printing system and a print support program, and specifically relates to such a print support apparatus, a printing system and a print support program that respectively make it possible to conduct a printing operation requested by a client terminal device into which no printer driver is installed.[0003]Conventionally, when creating a document to be printed onto a paper sheet, the user employs a document creation / editing application program installed in advance into a computer apparatus so as to create the document concerned, and then, selects a desired printer driver from the printing menu provided in the document creation / editing application program concerned, to issue a printing command.[0004]The d...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]To overcome the abovementioned drawbacks in conventional printing systems, it is one of objects of the present invention to provide a print support apparatus, a printing system and a print support program, each of which makes it possible even for a client, who has no document creation / editing application program and no printer driver, to implement a printing operation easily and safely by employing the SaaS.

Problems solved by technology

Accordingly, sometimes, it has been impossible for the user to implement the printing operation in such an apparatus into which the document creation / editing application program and the printer driver have not been installed yet, resulting in an inconvenience for the user.

As a result, it is impossible for the printer driver to transfer the printer information, being available for the user, back to the document creation / editing application program.

In addition, even if the printer driver could receive the document data concerned, since the printer driver has no information in regard to the physical printer, it is also impossible for the printer driver to convert the document data to appropriate print data.

However, since the general purpose Firewall policy is so established that, the forward connecting request, in regard to the forward communication from a node on the user's network (such as a personal computer, a network apparatus, a network printer, etc.) to a computer on the Internet (such as a Web server, a mail server, etc.), is allowed, while the reverse connecting request, in regard to the reverse communication from the computer on the Internet to the node on the user's network, is shut off, it is quite difficult for the server, currently operated on the SaaS system, to directly acquire the printer information in regard to the physical printer on the user's network.

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